Professional Experience

I began my career as a teacher. I’ve taught 5th grade, middle, and high school as well as undergraduate and graduate students. Teaching is an important part of my identity and my experiences with students and teachers around the world continue to inform my research and policy work.

Following my time in the classroom, I was a researcher with the World Bank and the Education Commission. In these roles, I worked on a variety projects ranging from large-scale RCTs focused on youth unemployment and gender, to complex analysis and modeling of education finance globally. In my most recent full-time role, I was as a Senior Policy Analyst and Education Expert with the Center for Global Development. At CGD, I co-led research related to girls’ education.

I’m currently a political economy analyst (contract) with UNHCR and others focused on the politics of refugee inclusion.

 Policy and Research Work

I frequently work with international organizations, governments, NGOs, and think tanks. My areas of expertise include education, migration and forced displacement, gender, labor and employment, the politics of public services, and international and public finance. I’ve completed both long and short-term consultancies focused on research and writing, quantitative analysis, study design and implementation (quantitative and qualitative), impact and program evaluation, political economy analysis, and finance (domestic, development, and humanitarian). Some of the organizations I’ve worked with include:

  • United Nations Refugee Agency - Southern Africa Regional Office (Political Economy Advisor)

  • United Nations Refugee Agency - UNHCR Kenya (Political Economy Analyst)

  • The Ministry of Education Kenya - (Member of Refugee Education Secretariat and Policy Reference Group)

  • The Center for Global Development (Education & Migration)

  • The World Bank (Africa Gender Innovation Lab; Education Global Practice; Labor & Social Protection; Jobs & Development Unit)

  • UNICEF Innocenti and the Overseas Development Institute (Refugee Education)

  • International Rescue Committee (Refugee Education & Political Economy)

  • The Education Commission (Finance)

  • Global Business Coalition for Education (Skills and Employment)

  • TheirWorld (Education Finance)

  • World Education (Grants)

  • UNICEF - Jamaica (Education)

  • USAID (Office of Policy, Planning, and Learning)

  • Texas Education Agency (Office of At-Risk Youth and Dropout Prevention)